


Dum Spiro Spero

by magicandlight



Series: The States [13]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Colonial era up to civil war era, Gen, South Carolina Centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 22:59:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16184984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicandlight/pseuds/magicandlight
Summary: They are formed at the same time. Identical. Indistinguishable aside from the ribbon tied in the neckline of their nightgowns- red for one and blue for the other.





	1. one

They are formed at the same time. Identical. Indistinguishable aside from the ribbon tied in the neckline of their nightgowns- red for one and blue for the other.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They share the name Carolina, but one is called Albemarle sometimes and the other is called Clarendon. Sometimes they call each other North and South. Mostly, they don't call the other one anything, because they never need to differentiate.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

The twin representations of Carolina don't need anyone but each other, and it stays that way for a long time.

They race through the forests and swim in the rivers and climb the trees. They go east and chase the wild horses. They watch turtles hatch and struggle into the ocean and kick away the crabs that try to eat the baby turtles. (One of the crabs pinches South's ankle and draws blood for his trouble, but that's alright.) They play with mountain lions cubs up in the mountains and try to catch fishes in creeks.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

One day, they start to fight.

They don't stop until they're split into two colonies, North and South.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

It's a summer after their separation that they make the promise.

It's hot, the air sticky and humid and they stand in a pine forest and pinky promise that one will never go where the other cannot follow, that they are  _forever_.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Georgia is a piece they hadn't realized they were missing until they found her.

One day, they're running across North's sand dunes after wild horses and the next a _tug_  is guiding them South.

It's a weird feeling, like having a string looped around your heart and something pulling it like a leash.

At the edge of South's territory, the boundary they never cross, there's a  _girl_.

Somehow, they know that she has come a long way to meet them, too.

She's tiny, but fierce, like the mountain lion cubs from so long ago. She plants her little freckled fists on her hips and silently dares them to challenge her when she tells them her name is Georgia. (She tells them apart without even trying.)

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They wander between their colonies, exploring and playing.

Georgia takes them down to see otters- which like Georgia and don't like North (he has the bite marks to prove it). They find foxes that have fur the same color as their hair and the foxes eat wild blackberries out of their hands. They spend a whole day knee-deep in a river with one of North's black bears trying to catch fish (they don't catch any, but the bear does). They boost Georgia up into an apple tree because she's the least likely to break the branches and she gets stung by two wasps trying to pick apples (she pouts at them for days after). Winters they spend in whichever city was nearest, stealing food and slipping into closed shops at night for warmth (South steals three silk ribbons for Georgia's hair one year).

They spend a summer climbing as far into the mountains as they can go, making it a game to see how far they can get before they feel the distinct  _not-yours_  feeling. They run into Cherokee a few times, and he always offers them a place to stay and they always decline. Sometimes when they decide to go exploring Georgia's land they run into Creek, and she always offers them the same thing.

They don't want a place to stay. They want to run and explore. They want to spend days watching the river otters float and trying to copy the graceful movements. They want to tempt fate by trying to touch sunbathing alligators. They want to try and catch lizards and squirrels and other creatures that are so much faster than them.

They're happy right where they are, as they are.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

When America comes, Georgia steps in front of them, arms splayed protectively.

Georgia is the youngest, but she was made to protect and defend. She'd watched their backs and tempered their stupid ideas from day one. Georgia is shorter than both twins but something about her always has people questioning the decision to hassle any of them.

America crouches down to talk to her, and the Carolinas edge closer. Closing ranks. They look at America over her shoulders.

For the first time ever, someone asks which twin is which.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

America gives them names (David Daniel Scarlett) and they make the unanimous decision to  _stay_.

They've never stayed anywhere. They had always gone wherever they pleased, never wintered in the same place twice.

They had never  _wanted_  to stay in one place, but America changes that.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

England is a far-away mystery.

They don't like to ask much about him, because Alfred always gets a far-away look that makes him seem sad.

They know he raised Alfred, though it doesn't seem like he did a very good job, since apparently no one ever took care of Alfred when he was sick. They know his name is Arthur because West is named for him. They know he looks like a boy-version of Sam.

They know precious little facts, and they never see him. England only seems to visit when something goes wrong, and Alfred scatters the colonies back to their lands before he even steps foot on the land.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

England fights a war with France in America, and none of them know what's happening except that they're so sick they can barely bear it.

That is possibly the moment the three southern colonies start hating him.

If not then, it's definitely when the taxes start.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They scatter throughout the colonies once Alfred deems them old enough to take care of themselves.

Scarlett is giddy when she goes off to find a place in Savannah.

It's strange without Scarlett. She's been rounding them out for so long, filling the gaps between them for so long that they've forgotten how to exist without her.

David talks about Edenton with a wistful look while bouncing a ball off their bedroom wall, and Daniel shrugs and admits living in Charleston would be nice.

By the end of the year, they're all settled within their own colonies, separated for the first time.


	2. two

Sam starts a revolution and it burns through Colonial America.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They both hate Wright. He's slimy and looks at Scarlett strangely and talks down to her.

Scarlett cries when she tells them she can't come to the Congress. She needs England's protection far too much to risk it.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Sometime after that, Scarlett gets bored of playing Southern Belle and joins them at the Congress table, sliding neatly into her place between them.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Prussia finds out about them, and then he says he's going to train them.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Daniel holds a white silk stripe with South Carolina embroidered on it in continental blue, and thinks  _we have to win this war_.

He doesn't know how to go back from this- if he could go back from this dizzying sense of freedom to being a colony of another nation.

He traces his motto and  _hopes_.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett screams at the top of her lungs as Savannah is seized.

Her hands tear through the mattress, and there were feathers under her fingernails and around her, bloody half-moons dug into the palms of her hands.

Daniel wraps his arms around her without hesitation, holding her steady while David puts a comforting hand on her nape, the other holding her jaw so he can look in her eyes.

"Savannah," she sobs out. "They took Savannah."

When Daniel looks at his twin, he sees his own stormy, unending rage reflected in his eyes.

༨༨༨༨

They wrap the rattlesnake in their flag, tucking a note in with it.

It's a threat, a warning, and a promise rolled into one-  _Don't tread on me._

Even when they were fearless and young, they hadn't messed around with rattlesnakes. They'd take their chances with alligators and mountain lions but rattlesnakes were death with scales and they had respected that.

England needed to respect that they weren't a harmless colony-country anymore.

They tie the box with one of Scarlett's hair ribbons- a silky sea-green one, and really, if England was smarter he could have figured it out the second he saw that flag.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

When Daniel finally realizes that Brooke is bloody and still, the first thing he thinks is  _thank god it isn't Scarlett_  and a wave of self-hatred sweeps through him.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They spend the second half of 1779 in the South fighting against the British, Alfred at their side.

They fight at Charleston together and Daniel is struck by how right it feels to be fighting, knowing his siblings are somewhere else on the battlefield doing the same thing.

They stick with Alfred when France comes around, and David has to stop Daniel from gutting the older nation after he gropes Scarlett with a regretful murmur of  _he's our ally_.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They hear about the man the British call the Swamp Fox, and then they join his militia.

Francis Marion accepts them warily.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

In 1780, the British attack Charleston and he screams when it is surrendered.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

David pauses as he cleans his rifle. "Do you ever think that Scarlett seems too interested in the Daughters of Liberty?"

Daniel frowns, thinking it over. Sure, Scarlett had made friends with Isabelle or Annabelle or whatever. Personally, he thought it was better for Scar to be making friends with the Daughters of Liberty than the Sons of Liberty. "Not really. Why?"

David sighs and shakes his head. "No reason."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They fight at King's Mountain and they lose Scarlett and then she gets shot.

They pull her off the battlefield and stumble back home with her half-limp between them and the whole time Daniel is thinking  _no no no not Scarlett no_.

She stays lucid the whole way home, and Daniel  _hopes_.

Scarlett's a bloody mess, but she's a state and  _he can fix this_.

Scarlett grabs his wrist when he gets out the bandages. She smiles weakly (her teeth are red with her own blood) at him. "It won't work."

When she dies, Daniel sits beside his brother and waits.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett's chest begins rising and falling again, and David elbows him to get his attention.

When Scarlett starts coughing, both twins freeze.

She spits out a bullet, horrified.

"...I think that's the one without an exit wound." Daniel informs her slowly.

Scarlett, who had looked at him when he'd begun to speak, looks back to the bullet in her hand.

"That's disgusting. God knows where that's been-and _-and it was just in my mouth_ -"

If possible, she looks even more horrified as she thinks about all the places that bullet could have been and the fact that she coughed it up.

"Ew. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wash out my mouth. And then I'm going to take a bath in boiling water."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

"Do you think we'll win?" David asks as he rubs Bonnie down for the night. He offers her an apple when he finishes.

Scarlett is petting Cotton's muzzle, her cavalry sword still at her hip. She waits for Daniel to answer too.

Daniel leans against Goldenrod. "I think we're going to win."

David smiles, reaching over to offer Goldenrod an apple too, tossing another over to Scarlett.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They make England fight for every southern victory.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Davy grins, and for a moment, he is defiance and mischief and all that southern charm. "Well? You said we were going to Virginia. I'd like to get there  _before_  the fun begins."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They win at Yorktown; they win the war. They win independence.


	3. three

Washington gives them their stars long after their statehood.

Daniel watches as his sister accepts her star, and then he holds his own in his hands and it's better than he could have imagined, and when North gets his star he sees his own joy reflected.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Cordelia is created, and suddenly there are just territories all over the place.

Daniel likes it. It's noisy and chaotic but it's family.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

When they declare war on England the second time, Daniel just shrugs and pulls on his Continental uniform again.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Daniel is asleep when the bond starts tugging, jerking him awake.

David and Scarlett startle awake similarly on either side of him.

There's only one reason Alfred would yank on the union bonds so harshly, and it was because there was trouble. Danger.

Without a word, they pack up camp.

War can wait.

༨༨༨༨

They arrive in Virginia to a house in mourning.

They'd heard rumors on the way, about the British burning the capital. They didn't want to believe it.

Abby is blind and bedridden, and suddenly this war is  _personal_.

༨༨༨༨

They leave one of the revolutionary flags- the same kind they'd sent to England all those years ago.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

David takes a bullet to the neck that was meant for Daniel during a battle in Illinois territory.

It's pain unlike anything else when David dies that first time. It's something so cold it  _burns_. It's every single cell in his body saying  _wrong wrong wrong_. It's every single nerve saying that something has been torn from where it belongs.

༨༨༨༨

Ginny sits down beside him, joining him in vigil over David. "It seems unnatural, doesn't it?"

Daniel's voice is a weak rasp. "What does?"

"Being born together and then dying apart."

Daniel glances over at Ginny, remembering her scream when Wes had died that first time during the Revolution.

"It wasn't like this with Scarlett. It hurt, but it wasn't-" Daniel tries and fails to find a word that describes this.

Ginny meets his eyes steadily. "Scarlett is your sister, but she isn't your twin."

༨༨༨༨

David wakes up, and all is right again.


	4. four

Tension between the North and South has been rising since 1780 when Will had walked into a meeting and said his state was going to free the children of slaves.

Here is what it comes to: Josh spitting the word  _fancy_  at Brooke during the meeting where they're supposed to be coming to a compromise and Nicky lunging across the table.

Brooke yanks Nicky back. She tilts her head like a confused debutante and smiles, sugar-sweet. "Say it again." It's a dare and a threat and the promise of retaliation.

Josh's eyes go hard and he opens his mouth.

Daniel closes his eyes. Josh had no self-preservation. None. Brooke might not be entirely white, but that didn't mean it needed to be pointed out. Who would he say something to next, Evangeline?

Ginny intervenes. "Really, Josh? I thought you would have more manners to resort to insulting your sisters."

Caden tugs on Evangeline's sleeve. "What's a fancy, Evangeline?"

Ev closes her eyes at the word.

Nicky answers, making everyone remember that if Brooke wasn't entirely white then Nicky was certainly mixed with _something_. "It's a light-skinned slave girl sold for sex." He stands so suddenly his chair nearly falls over, storming out of the room.

Brooke sighs.

Sera shuffles her papers. "So, the Missouri Compromise."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett goes to talk to Brooke after the State of the Union meeting.

"Since when is Scarlett friends with her?" Daniel asks, puzzled as Brooke laughs at something his sister has said.

David raises an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

David rolls his eyes. "Nothing."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

The phrase  _manifest destiny_  is coined, and it falls into place like a puzzle piece.

They go to war with Mexico and end up with Texas and then California and then Oregon.

Alfred had once promised them a family, and it seemed he was determined to make one that sprawled over the continent.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

"You know, I never really thought about it, but has Scarlett ever been with anyone?"

Daniel gags. "Why would you want to think about it?"

David rolls his eyes.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

The Nashville Convention is sort of like the old constitutional conventions.

Daniel whispers this to Scarlett and Ginny, the only other ones who had been there, and is rewarded with both of them smiling.

He tries not to think about why they're the only ones at the Convention old enough to remember. (North had rolled his eyes and said he was too busy to overreact about territories, Scott had said something to Ginny that made her huffy, and Del. Was, well, Del. She didn't do anything she didn't want to.)

Evangeline's absence is noticeable too. She wasn't an original, but she was almost as old as them. Older than Scarlett. Caden didn't talk about it, so no one else did either. Drew's delegation is there, but he isn't.

The word  _secession_  is tossed out, and Daniel's throat closes up.

Ginny's teacup freezes halfway to her mouth. Scarlett's eyes are wide. Josh stops taking notes. Caden stops drumming his fingers against the table. Tim and Flora both look like startled deer.

Austin merely raises an eyebrow. He'd seceded from Mexico, once, after all. He'd fought a revolution on his own. Daniel figured anything after that wouldn't seem so bad.

But  _secession_.

Secession is turning your back on Alfred. On all the other states. On your star and statehood and family.

They all breathe again when the secessionists are talked down. The Mason-Dixon line will just have to extend all the way to the Pacific. The southern territories will be slave states, the northern ones free states. The way it should be.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Congress creates a compromise none of them are happy with, and Callie gets her star.

Nine days after Callie's statehood ceremony, the Fugitive Slave Act is passed.

Two days after the Act is passed, they have a state of the union meeting.

The meeting goes to hell when Sera reads the act aloud and Cam snorts. "Some land of the free.  _We're a joke_."

The territories- Charlotte, Mindy, Emily, Elijah- exchange wary looks.

Sera drops her head into her hands, rubbing her temples where an ever-present headache is probably getting stronger. "Dismissed." She sighs out.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Harriet Beacher Stowe writes Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the divide between the Northern and Southern states grows.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Addison and Caitlin are created with another act, and none of them wanted this. None of them wanted Bleeding Kansas.

Addison is just collateral damage.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

States have talents that aren't entirely natural. Evangeline could smile and say something in a certain sugary-sweet voice and people felt compelled to listen to her. Will could write the sky was made of jellybeans and people would believe him. (Not that he ever did that. He thought his talent meant he should only write the truth.) Del never missed a shot. Monty had his numbers and math. Scarlett always knew the right thing to say- no one could tell if that was wisdom or kindness.

A lot of states don't know what their talent is. They hadn't figured out until 1817 that Nicky's success with the garden wasn't normal.

It still seems a little unfair that neither of the Carolinas have apparent talents when three weeks after being found, Addison figures out hers.

And also unfair that Addison's internal lie-detector lead to them getting busted for a prank and punished with cleaning the  _entire_ library. (Windows, floors, books and books and  _oh_ , more books.)

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Charles Sumner is canned on the floor of the Senate after he denounces slavery, and Sam refuses to speak to him.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Elections are always rough. It's just a fact. In 1800, Ginny and Sam nearly killed each other over an election. In 1856, Callie punched Will.

This year, though, it seems tenser.

༨༨༨༨

Lincoln wins.


	5. five

If his hands shake when he writes the notice of secession, Daniel ignores it.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Will punches him and they fight until Scott grabs Will and shoves him towards Brooke, and Scarlett and David join Daniel.

Scarlett's hands are balled into fists, and it doesn't matter if she's in a hoop skirt and dress, she's willing to fight them all, right then and there.

It still hurts when Del looks him in the eyes and tells him to get out.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

It isn't until later, after Drew and Flora and Josh, that Jackson appears.

༨༨༨༨

When he seceded he hadn't thought anything about the fact that he was starting to form a new nation.

Daniel hadn't even thought of the possibility another personification would be formed.

Drew, Josh, and Flora are all looking between him and the brand new nation standing before them. Daniel is the oldest and they have no idea what to do, so they look at him.

Daniel feels a twist of  _wrongness_  in his stomach. When personifications were formed, they were always relatively young, always in those white nightgowns.

The Confederacy is the same age as the once-states that stand in front of him. He's dressed in trousers and a loose shirt, likely stolen. He looks like unsettlingly like Alfred. The hair is darker, less wheat-gold and more a dusty blonde with tints of red. The eyes are different too, a darker grey-blue like the Atlantic instead of bright cerulean. The jaw is the same, and so are the mouth and nose.

The Confederacy is looking them over assessingly. Flora is still in a way that says this is ingrained into her mind, head slightly tilted down and shoulders pulled in, everything to make her seem smaller.

Something flickers in the Confederacy's eyes when he looks at Drew before he turns away.

The Confederacy holds his hand out to Daniel.

Daniel takes it, and the Confederacy smiles before he shakes his hand.

"The Confederate States of America," Here he pauses, before finally: "You can call me Jackson."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They move into the old state house in Montgomery and clean out the reminders of their Northern siblings.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

At first, Jackson seems fine.

And then Scarlett joins the Confederacy.

༨༨༨༨

Scarlett is his  _little sister_.

David and he had found her on the edge of  _his_  border, small and fierce with her red hair and freckled fists that she put on her hips when she held her head high and said her name was  _Georgia_.

 _She's his little sister_. He used to steal ribbons for her hair when he could.

Jackson is looking at her slowly. His gaze lingers on her chest for too long and Daniel's jaw tightens. His hands curl into fists.  _This is wrong_ , he thinks.  _Alfred would never-_  He chokes that thought off.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Evangeline secedes seven days later, and Jackson looks at her with a sneer.


	6. six

They take Fort Sumter and start a war all at once.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Austin and Ginny are both warmly welcomed, and then Jackson exposes one of his own secrets.

"Where is your twin?" He throws out curiously and Ginny freezes dead in her tracks.

Daniel looks around, but everyone else's faces say the same thing.

No one had told him that Virginia was not one girl, but a pair of twins.

Which means he had _known_.

Daniel thinks about how Jackson had never needed to ask for any names. How he'd known them.

Daniel had assumed he'd learned them by listening to them talk to each other.

Realization coils up in his stomach, a sick, heavy weight.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

David joins second to last. Last, really, when you consider that Tim had declared secession before him, even if he came after.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

David has always been the more observant one. Of course, he sees how Jackson looks at Scarlett.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Wes gets his statehood and Ginny spends the day crying as she's split from her twin.

Jackson sits on the couch beside her, patting her back and making awkward attempts to comfort her.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Jackson brushes some of Scarlett's hair away from her face, hand lingering.

Scarlett reminds him of a wilting flower, shrinking into herself.

_Do something do anything just do something_

_Snap_.

Daniel tears his gaze away, glancing around the room for the source of the sound.

His eyes land on his twin, on the black ink smeared over his hands and the broken pen.

David's mouth is drawn, eyes burning with endless anger as he watches Scarlett.

༨༨༨༨

"How long has that been happening." David gets out between gritted teeth.

Daniel can't meet his twin's eyes.

His silence is answer enough.

David leaves.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Daniel has always been closer to Scarlett than David.

He was always the one she came to when she had nightmares.

She never does anymore.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

David doesn't speak to him unless it's necessary, and the loss aches.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Daniel doesn't realize how much Evangeline and Drew's presences annoy Jackson until Evangeline questions his authority for the first time.

The slap seems to echo through the room.

Evangeline lays where she fell, a hand held to her cheek in shock.

Fury burns away all reason and Daniel tenses, prepared to step in between them.

Ginny grabs his arm, holding him at his place at the table.

When he glances down at her, Ginny's face is pale, lips drawn into a thin line.

Evangeline's shock fades, replaced by icy rage. Her face smooths out into a calm facade and she meets Jackson's gaze.

"Elizabeth isn't the only one here with empire blood thrumming in her veins and I never forget, Jackson."

She stands, head held high and spine straight, a girl made by an empire at its strongest.

Evangeline walks away.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Everything is falling apart so fast.

Ginny's letters are returned unopened and Tim's first life is gone, and then so is the second and third and fourth and then they stop counting. Daniel stops for a moment and realizes he hasn't talked to his siblings in days.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

"Scarlett's sleeping with her cavalry sword on her nightstand." David says quietly. He doesn't look up, just keeps looking at the maps. There's a new scar over the back of his hand, and the fact that Daniel doesn't know what it's from says something about how far they have grown apart.

Daniel sighs and runs a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair. "I'm worried about her."

Scarlett gets quieter, it seems, every week. She's too still, too silent, too agreeable. She used to be so vibrant and alive.  

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Sometimes Daniel thinks the ever-increasing pressure of being a state leader is going to break his ribs and steal all of the air out of his lungs.

And then there are days like today, when he thinks it already has. 

Drew is half dressed when Daniel goes to ask about the papers and he freezes in the doorway. 

Daniel doesn't know what he's looking at for a moment, until the pattern of scarring clicks and he realizes there's a brand burned into Drew's shoulder. The initials have healed if they were ever there, but fate has a cruel sense of humor and left the heart insignia to scar over.

Drew yanks his shirt over his head.

Daniel is speechless.

"I was a conductor, once. Got caught. It's why I went to live with Ev."

(He hadn't known. It seems to be a common theme these days.)

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Daniel dies and wakes up with Scarlett's arm draped over him from where she presumably fell asleep waiting for him to come back. 

It was a tradition- that if one of them died, the other two would wait for them to come back.

David isn't-

The door creaks as it opens, and Daniel's head turns toward the noise on reflex. 

David raises his eyebrows, the quilt Ginny had made for his eighth statehood thrown over his head like a cloak. "You thought I just left you two alone?" 

Daniel isn't used to David sounding hurt. He can't even deny it, because that was exactly what he thought. 

David drops onto the bed beside him. "I wouldn't do that."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Jackson is unpredictable.

One moment, he's trying to mimic Ginny's cooking efforts, and the next he's backhanding Drew.

He reminds Daniel of the time he'd learned rattlesnakes were not to be trifled with.

It had been after Scarlett joined them, but before Alfred.

It had been summer and they hadn't even gotten a warning rattle as they walked through to forest.

One moment, they'd been walking, and the next a rattlesnake had tried to close its mouth on Scarlett's foot. David had jerked her away from it, and the rattlesnake had slithered away, but the close call had stuck with Daniel.   
  
The irony sticks with him- that David had always been the one to sense the silent danger and pull Scarlett out of its path.

(Sometimes, he thinks he was born the third point of a triangle, and he doesn't know how to be his own shape now that he has to.)

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

There's a shout in the dining room before there is nothing, and Daniel freezes at the top of the stairs before continuing down them, avoiding the spots that creak. He pauses at the landing, leaning over the railing.

He almost smiles at the sight of the rapier in Evangeline's hand.

It isn't the dulled practice blade she spars Ginny with.

This is a real rapier, razor-sharp and deadly, and Evangeline has it pressed to Jackson's exposed throat.

Tim and Josh are frozen in the doorway. Neither interferes, because a cornered state is a dangerous thing.

Evangeline's smile is as razor-sharp and deadly as her blade. "Hit me if you like. I warned you already. But touch Andrew again and I will gut you like a pig."

Jackson manages to smile back despite the blade pressed to his throat. "I wouldn't doubt it, Evangeline."

Evangeline dips her head in recognition that she has made a deal with the devil.

The rapier is away from Jackson's neck and held loosely at Evangeline's side again.

She doesn't put her back to Jackson as she leaves.

When she passes Daniel on the stairs, she merely smiles. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett has a bruise on her face when she comes home from the battle.  
  
The world becomes a kaleidoscope of rage and guilt and pain and the unsettling realization that he can't do anything, and that night Scarlett comes to sit with him as he goes through papers.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Evangeline is gone and when Jackson predictably throws a fit, David just gives him that bored, insolent expression. 

Daniel closes his eyes.  _Please, please, just this once keep your mouth shut, David._

If David sees the quiet pleading in his twin's eyes, he ignores it. 

Jackson's on the verge of calm when he asks if anyone knew.

David sets his glass down on the table. "I did."

Jackson does a wonderful impression of a statue for a moment. " _What_."

"I was awake when she left. I gave her my pistol in case she ran into trouble on the way. She's handy with that rapier, but it isn't the most practical of weapons."

Jackson moves toward David, and suddenly Scarlett is there, a knife in hand.

Jackson repeats the statue impersonation.

Scarlett adjusts her grip.

Daniel begins calculating how much damage Scarlett can do with a table knife. 

The calculations aren't pretty.

Daniel had once thought of Jackson like a rattlesnake, unpredictable and deadly when provoked. Rattlesnakes were death wearing scales, and Scarlett is death in a debutante dress and bandages. Scarlett is one-part Southern Belle and one-part soldier. She's soft curves and a softer smile tempered with calloused hands and a spine made of steel.

Frankly, the chances of survival are better with the rattlesnake. 

"Touch my brother and I'll kill you." 

She's stone-cold serious. Daniel meets his brother's eyes. Silently, they come to an agreement: Jackson moves towards Scarlett and he's dead. 

Jackson steps back. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Sherman drags the war down to Georgia and Scarlett can't stop screaming.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett sits on the edge of his bed beside him. "Did you know that when I was established, the province of Georgia didn't allow slavery."

Daniel looks at his sister. Her unbound red hair spills down her back, reminding him of the days when all they had to worry about was which animals they were going to play with that day. It hurts to look at the gauze wrapped around her arm and taped over he shoulder. He knew the scar trailed all the way to her navel.

He thought about Austin's words- that Scarlett was lucky it hadn't affected her face.

"What was that like?"

Scarlett gives him a small, sad smile. "Better than this."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Towards the end of the war, Jackson begins to lose it.

Daniel didn't think personifications could go crazy. He'd thought they were built of stronger stuff.   
  
༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Ginny leaves, and the world is reduced to hell. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Flora hands Scarlett an orange blossom before she leaves, and Daniel has never seen his sister look quite so shell-shocked.

Scarlett looks after Flora with an odd expression, and Daniel glances toward his twin for help.

David watches their sister with a knowing look, but merely shrugs at Daniel. 


	7. seven

_Stars_.

Daniel scans over them, reading the names desperately.

David sees it before him, and he makes a noise like a wounded animal.

Because there, shining as bright as the day it was made, is a silver star with  _Georgia_  engraved into the center. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett is a miserable lump wrapped in three blankets in the center of her bed, which Daniel sort of gets because if they aren't states, what are they?

He kicks off his boots, laying beside the Scarlett-lump and shifting until she's tucked in his arms. 

"Go away."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm your brother, and I'm sorry I haven't been better at it."

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They're all stuck in the Philadelphia house like children until they get their stars back, which means Daniel notices the looks Josh keeps giving Scarlett. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They aren't what they were before the war, but they aren't what they were during the war, and Daniel can live with that. David's amusing himself by tearing off small pieces of bread and flicking them at birds, watching them all fly after it. 

"How long has that been going on?" Daniel finally asks. 

David raises an eyebrow, following his gaze to where Josh is looking at Scarlett like a sad puppy. 

David snorts. "So you finally noticed that?"

"What do you mean,  _finally_?"

"He's been pining after her for the last decade."

" _What?_ "

David shrugs. "Yeah, but I don't think you have to worry about Josh."

"What do you mean?"

David lets out a long-suffering sigh and mutters out something. "...He's not really Scarlett's type, you know?"

He tosses the last piece of bread out to the birds and goes back inside, leaving Daniel wondering what  _that_  was supposed to mean. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They get their stars back and then Scarlett's is taken again. 

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They take Scarlett's statehood again, and Scarlett goes into her room and doesn't come out for a long time.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

Scarlett won't come out of her room, so her room becomes their base of operations. They steal food from the kitchen and all their blankets and get notebooks to plan pranks and haul it all into their little sister's bedroom. 

David tosses a caramel at Daniel's head, and Daniel gasps in mock outrage. "Respect your elders!"

"We're twins!" David shouts, and flings another caramel. 

Scarlett laughs out loud and they both grin.

༨༨༨༨༨༨༨༨

They finally readmit Scarlett and she refuses to go get her star. 

Instead, David does it. 

(The Congress pales every time they look at him for a year after.)

Daniel holds his sister tight and mumbling soothing words to her. 


	8. eight

It takes a long time to get back to the closeness they had before the war, but one day Daniel looks at his brother and sister and thinks  _we're gonna be alright_.  

David laughs at something Scarlett says and Scarlett smiles and Daniel thinks  _we're gonna be alright_. 

And they are.


End file.
